NAKED CITY: CORRUPTION FOR THE COMMON GOOD

The recent trials and tribulations of the Annandale Hotel and its ongoing licensing problems have been well publicised. Thirty years ago, in a supposedly less enlightened time, the dispute between a similar pub and local council may well have been quickly settled with the discreet passage of one or two brown paper bags.

The image we have of Sydney in the 80s, coloured and often greatly distorted by the comic book portrayals of shows like Underbelly, suggest that these were the bad old days of endemic corruption and a system of under the counter patronage that linked everybody from the cop on the beat to the very Premier himself.

What few people seem to remember is that it was also a great time for live music and the  arts in general. Sure there were licensing laws and a licensing squad that could occasionally enforce with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer but more often a kind of cash sponsored laissez faire prevailed, much to the gratification of all involved.

Unlike today, Kings Cross in the 80s was awash with music venues, from grimey rock joints and discos to the very late night Paradise Club where jazz musicians jammed like crazy until the early morning. The coke barons often called the shots but these venues opened seven nights a week, invariably featured two or three bands a night and were the basis of a thriving music scene.

Elsewhere throughout Sydney the story was much the same and rules and regulations were easily avoided in the interest of having a good time, even if that meant packing six hundred punters into a venue licensed to hold only two hundred. Clubs like the Trade Union, the Graphic Arts and later Paddo RSL threw open their doors to wild and chaotic rock shows and local pubs, with their small back rooms, were the ideal venue for the band just starting out.

Letters such as OH&S and RSA were yet to become part of the vocabulary and the fun police were notably absent when some of the more bizarre manifestations of 80s culture took place. At Max’s in the Petersham Inn, a haven for the grungier side of the Sydney music scene, there was a popular band night labelled “Free Beer For Nudes”. Punters of both sexes were encouraged to strip totally naked and present themselves at the bar where they were dutifully rewarded with a middie. Slightly shocking in its day but all perfectly innocent when you look back with a certain degree or ardour.

However, imagine the stink if you attempted such a promotion in 2013 and the thought of punters disrobing at the Metro or the Annandale, just to get a free beer, is beyond imagination. Is it because we are simply more prudish today or have we been conditioned to think we are a lot more sophisticated and worldly?

And long before the big warehouse parties and rave scene of the 90s, Sydney in the 80s was home to numerous so called illegal venues where Saturday night ”rent” parties were a regular occurrence complete with bands and an ample supply of opiates. Even hiring a council owned venue, “excusing” the caretaker for the night and running your own illegal bar was not out of the question.

Yes a number of the 80s music venues were run by gangsters and hard men, there was sometimes an unnecessary degree of violence on the part of heavy-handed bouncers, and it was harder to get drunk on watered down spirits – but the scene was alive and whilst the odd noise complaint was directed to council, these matters were quickly settled over a friendly drink and a handshake softened by the reassuring feel of a wad of fifty dollar bills. Rock on!